• The soldier awoke early to walk throughout the camp. He put a few dry branches on the smoldering fire in front of his tent. He sat there and pulled the thin cloak he wore close to him. He missed his family very much and wanted to end this manjunt as quickly as possible. They had been hunting a former servant of their empres, all they knew about him was that he had the ears and tail of a wolf and he was called the "Black Hand." Since this campaign began he was the ninth commander to appointed to this batallion, the others had either been killed or were assassinated after a few weeks of service. He shuddered at the thought that he may never see his family again but quickly shook the thought from his mind. He roused the other troops and let them eat for awhile before calling them to attention. They got into formation and raised the standard of their empress, a black banner with a blue flame in the center surrounded by ten golden swords. They marched through the whole day ignoring the pouring rain and knee-deep mud. At dusk the rain had subsided and they made camp near a small gorge. As the soldier fell asleep he thought he heard a noise in the gorge, he woke a few men and they left the camp to search the gorge. They slowly descended the rocky sides being careful not to fall. They searched the whole gorge for many hours but found nothing, as they came back to the camp they were horrified at the sight before them. The entire camp was a bloodbath, soldiers lay dead or dying on the blood-soaked earth, entrails and dismembered limbs lay strewn across the ground and in the middle of the slaughter was a man. He wore a hooded cloak that concealed his face but it was obvious that there was blood smeared across his face. The commander stood there in horror at what was before him but his men had other ideas. They rushed him hoping to overtake him but he quickly tore each of their throats out. The commander turned to run but tripped and cut his calf on an exposed sword. As he lay there bleeding he thought back on his life, this man who slaughtered 800 men without suffering any injuries, this man who showed no emotion in battle and enjoyed the thrill of battle, lay there cowering as the hooded figure approached him. He commanded the figure to remove his hood so he may see the face of the man who slaughtered over 3000 men. So he removed his hood and the commander was shocked to see this man's face. This man was who he was looking for, this was the empress' Black Hand. The Black Hand was wearing nothing in the way of armor other than bracers and pauldrons fashioned from a material that resembled adament, he also wore cloth leggings and a pair of fur boots. Strapped to back was a falchion crafted from obsidian. He looked as if he was in his early twenties with auburn hair that flowed to his waist, his ears and tail were slightly darker than his hair. His eyes, much to the commander's surprise, were milky-white which proved the rumour that the Black Hand was blind. He began to speak, his voice was gentle as if he were speaking to a dear friend, he told the commander that he would let him live. He helped the commander to his feet and helped him clean his wound and bury the dead. The commander turned to thank him but saw the Black Hand was gone. In a nearby tree, hidden from view the Black Hand sat and thought back at the events that led up to this moment.